A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



and who now witnessed this seemingly intelligent re- 

 sponse of a machine, the result must have seemed 

 mystifying enough; and, indeed, for us also, when we 

 consider how relatively crude was the mechanical 

 knowledge of the time, this must seem nothing less 

 than marvellous. As in imagination we walk up to the 

 sacred tank, drop our drachma in the slot, and hold 

 our hand for the spurt of holy-water, can we realize 

 that this is the land of the Pharaohs, not England or 

 America ; that the kingdom of the Ptolemies is still at 

 its height ; that the republic of Rome is mistress of the 

 world; that all Europe north of the Alps is inhabited 

 solely by barbarians ; that Cleopatra and Julius Caesar 

 are yet unborn ; that the Christian era has not yet be- 

 gun? Truly, it seems as if there could be no new 

 thing under the sun. 



